


Before Redhorn Gate

by LeastExpected_Archivist



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-02-04
Updated: 2002-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:34:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26213464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeastExpected_Archivist/pseuds/LeastExpected_Archivist
Summary: By HalethIt's chilly up there.
Relationships: Frodo Baggins/Sam Gamgee, Merry Brandybuck/Pippin Took
Kudos: 2
Collections: Least Expected





	Before Redhorn Gate

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Amy Fortuna, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Least Expected](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Least_Expected), which has been offline since 2002. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Least Expected collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/leastexpected/profile).
> 
> Disclaimer: Hobbits not mine. Neither is this mountain they're climbing.

Merry shivered in his layers of clothing, which were not nearly enough to have brought on a trip such as this. But when they had left the Shire none of them had known quite how far they would travel, how long they would be gone, or just how vast the world outside was. Or how cold. And now he had no idea when they would return home. He tried not to let himself think about the _if_ in the back of his mind, especially as he watched his companions climbing the narrow track in front of him. They had to make it home, eventually. All of them, he thought, as he stared at the back of Pippin's cloak billowing slightly in front of him, indistinct in the dim light of pre-dawn and the mist of his own breath. At least it wasn't snowing. Not yet, anyway, although he could see farther up the pass storm clouds were waiting. The temperature was already well below freezing.

He suppressed another shiver. He didn't think he had ever been so cold in his life, and he was concerned about the youngest member of the party. Pippin had the slightest build of all of them, and would no doubt chill the fastest. Merry watched him closely, alert to any sign that he was succumbing to the freezing temperatures, but Pippin continued on steadily until they camped for the day. Merry was a little surprised; but it was likely that his cousin like all of them had become conditioned to the long hours of walking by now. Anyway it was easier to fight off the cold while moving.

He kept an eye on Pippin as they ate their supper unheated, wishing they had been able to light a fire to warm themselves. Pippin was shivering but trying not to show it in front of the men, elf and dwarf. Merry wondered if he was afraid they might decide to send him back, even now. Of course they couldn't, but perhaps Pippin thought it better not to appear too delicate in front of them anyway. The meal was small and finished quickly, to minor quiet grumbling from all the hobbits, then they crowded together on the frozen ground to try to sleep in a little shaded hollow, hopefully out of sight of whatever spies might be watching the area.

The four hobbits lay together in a row, on their sides, Sam and Frodo facing each other, Pippin's back to Frodo's, and Merry facing Pippin. They arranged their shared cloaks and blankets over all of them. Merry still felt as though he would freeze, particularly his back, which did not have a warm hobbit body pressed against it, and which was barely under cover of the layers of blankets and cloaks. He wished they had been allowed to make camp in the open, where they'd have at least what warmth the feeble winter sun offered. Only Sam was apparently not too bothered by the cold, as he was already snoring softly, one arm thrown all the way over Frodo and resting on Pippin's side.

Pippin was another story. He was trying to pull Merry towards him for warmth, whispering hoarsely, "Merry, I'm too cold to sleep."

Merry was trying to accommodate him but was finding it difficult to maneuver forward on his side on the ground. "Pippin!" he whispered in return. "Come here, my dear."

Pippin's voice carried only the slightest hint of petulance. "I'm sorry, Merry, but Frodo's keeping my back warm, and I don't want to move away from him."

Fair enough, it was bitterly cold here, even with the four of them huddled together. Merry finally closed the last gap between them, and draped one arm and leg protectively over his young cousin. Pippin gratefully pushed his hands under Merry's arms, and buried his face in Merry's cheek. His nose was a blunt icicle digging into his skin, but his breath was like the air after a summer rainshower, warm and wet, so Merry didn't mind, just shared the warm breath between them. He thought he'd like more, in fact, so he tilted his head enough to kiss Pippin on the mouth. His lips were as cold as his nose, but Merry didn't draw back. He moved his mouth slowly over Pippin's, warming them with the friction, and when Pippin parted his lips, Merry found that his tongue was quite hot. He savored the heat and delved for more, but gently. He found that he did not feel so chilled as Pippin responded to him.

Finally Pippin broke away. "Merry, I'm so very cold still," he complained plaintively. Merry considered this carefully, until he thought of a partial solution.

"Here, unbutton your shirt," he said, and went to work on his own, though leaning back far enough to let his hand in between them to perform this task allowed icy tendrils of air to touch their chests and bellies.

He smiled a little at the immediate and not unexpected objection. "But Merry! It's cold!"

"Peregrin, trust me, this will help, in just a moment." And it was so; shortly Merry had bared his chest, and pushed the cloth away from Pippin's, then closed the slight space between them so they were skin to skin. He slipped his arms under the fabric of Pippin's shirt and smoothed them over his back, and noticed the young hobbit's body was not so soft as it had been before they left home. He was filling out; losing roundness and gaining hard muscles, and Merry felt a little pang of grief for the hobbit lad that had been, the one he'd fallen in love with.

"Ohhhhh this _is_ warmer." Pippin snuggled into him contentedly, warm breath and cold blue lips caressing Merry's cheek. "I bet we could be even warmer." Pippin's hand insinuated itself between their bellies and fumbled with Merry's breeches, then his own, until they fell open and the skin of the two hobbits was pressed together from head to groin. Merry groaned quietly into Pippin's ear, and his hands moved lower, pulling the younger hobbit into him. Pippin was obviously enjoying this, and Merry couldn't help but respond.

Now he laughed as softly as he could, "You weren't really all that cold, were you?"

Pippin sniffed indignantly. "I was!" He bit Merry's lower lip in rebuke, then added slyly, "but I'm warming up now. Aren't you?" The older hobbit's only answer to that was to quiet him by kissing him thoroughly. Pippin responded hungrily, and soon they were rocking together; the rest of the party forgotten, briefly.

Merry was unaware of the increasing force of his thrusts until Pippin protested with a hissed "Merry! We are going..." he stopped to gasp for breath, "...to wake..." and now he moaned softly before crying out "...Frodo!" seemingly much louder than he'd intended, while pulling Merry into him suddenly and firmly, heedless of his own warning.

"Too late," a sleepy voice floated over Pippin. Frodo sounded more amused than annoyed, and Merry thought he must not mind all that much. "And I hope you will be finished soon, or I shall have to wake Sam, and I'd rather not. He deserves his rest, if he can get it." Apparently he could: the gardener's low snores still filled the hollow.

Pippin made a little disappointed noise. "What are we going to do now?" he whispered in an exaggeratedly mournful tone; but slightly louder he said, "Our apologies, Frodo, we didn't mean to disturb you." Frodo didn't reply, but laughed softly, and Merry chuckled a little too.

"Are your hands still cold, Pippin?" he asked, still smiling.

"No, not so much. What are you - oh!" Merry had found Pippin's hand and clasped it in his own, then guided it down to rest where their hips molded together, then in between them.

"All right, Pippin?" he asked as they began stroking each other.

"Yes, oh, yes, Merry dear. This is... fine. Quite lovely..." Then for a time they were made speechless, and could only say what was in their hearts with their eyes and mouths and hands. Soon Pippin's body tensed, and he cried out. Merry felt wet heat on his belly, and he liked that, so soon he shivered too, and made his own contribution to the puddle between them. They lay together like this for some minutes, panting into each other's ears, until Pippin asked, "Merry, do you have a handkerchief?"

Merry somehow found this very amusing, and demonstrated this by kissing his cousin several times, before producing the requested item. He received a muffled "thank you" as Pippin wiped them dry, then nuzzled back into his neck.

"Merry..." Pippin sounded quite sleepy now.

"Yes, Pippin?"

"I love you."

"I know. I love you too, Peregrin, sweetest of Tooks."

Pippin burrowed into him a little further, and yawned against Merry's throat. "And Merry?"

"Hmmmm?"

"I'm not cold anymore."

Merry laughed quietly, and tightened his arms around his cousin, then nestled a kiss in the curly auburn hair. "Me neither," he said, but received no reply, as Pippin's breathing was already smoothing into the steady rhythm of sleep. He was drifting off himself, when he thought he heard Frodo's quiet voice asking, "Sam? Sam! Would you wake up, please?" He giggled sleepily thinking that he and Pippin would owe Samwise Gamgee an apology in the evening for disturbing his well-deserved rest, then at last he joined his companion in slumber.


End file.
